Meanwhile, before the girls ventured into their second dungeon, Luna skipped toward the training ground, eager for her first sparring match since receiving Hiro.
As she arrived, she noticed not only her instructor but also the Prime Minister and her father standing there.
"Pa… Father, are you here to watch my training?"
"Ah. This is not a formal occasion, so 'Papa' is fine. Yes, I came here to watch you spar with Luke." King Angus nodded. Malus, his symbiote, emerged slightly from his neck and gave a small nod as well.
"Well, I'm excited! Please go easy on me. I heard Hiro is a new symbiote, so I thought his levels and skills might not mean much. But you're his partner now. I expect great things from you!" Luke smiled as he drew his longsword.
"Hehehe… I am going to bust your ass today." Luna smirked as she readied her sword. She had never beaten Luke in a sword fight before. If she used claws, she might win one in ten matches. But Luke was the Commander of the Royal Knights—the best swordsman in the kingdom among those without a symbiote.
"Please! Let's see how well you can manage."
The battle began. Hiro immediately activated Amphetamine and Adrenaline on Luna. With her boosted stats, she dashed toward Luke and thrust her sword. He managed to parry, but the sudden speed was like a flash, forcing him to step back instead of counterattacking as he normally would.
Luna seized the opportunity, capitalizing on his blunder. She leaped to the left, seemingly teleporting behind him. Using his experience, Luke barely deflected her sword, but once again, he failed to counter. The impact of the blow nearly knocked his weapon from his grip.
With another strike, he lost his balance, and in an instant, Luna's sword was at his neck.
A round of applause followed from the Prime Minister and King Angus.
"Well, that's quite a show. She certainly overpowers you. Was Hiro's level higher than I thought?" King Angus asked.
"That's a skill. Her stat increase isn't from our innate talent," Malus answered.
"If Hiro can multiply and reproduce symbiotes this quickly, our kingdom will be unmatched! It hasn't even been three months, and I've heard Marissa has already employed another symbiote user," Prime Minister Darius nodded gleefully.
"We are not using symbiotes for war, Darius."
"Of course, Your Highness. Hiro is a production-specialized symbiote, after all. This is just a bonus."
Angus frowned at Darius. The Prime Minister was a proud man who despised how other nations looked down on Litmus. The fact that Litmus had done nothing when the neighboring kingdom of Latvin released a dungeon break on them made his blood boil. He had even petitioned the king three times to take action. Born and raised in Litmus, he loved his country deeply.
"Hiro is a secret. One of our allies, Mutual, literally worships symbiotes. If they knew we had Hiro, they might turn hostile."
"Hmph! If Mutual truly worshiped symbiotes, they should rejoice at the chance to turn half of their inhabitants into users. Their faith is fake! It's mere propaganda to enslave their people!" Darius scoffed.
Mutual was a nation that elevated symbiote users to nobility. Even their king had to be a symbiote user. Their dogma preached that symbiote users were divine warriors sent to protect the common folk, meaning all citizens were duty-bound to obey them.
It was common knowledge that symbiote users were rare. Even in Litmus, they received preferential treatment, often gaining noble status. But if someone like Hiro entered the picture, the balance of power could shift dramatically.
"We should not speak ill of our neighbors. Let's go back. Luna, come with me."
"Alright! But before that—hah!"
Luna suddenly dashed toward King Angus, brandishing her training sword to strike. With her enhanced stats and skills, she leaped toward him like a raging gale.
"Well, apparently, my daughter has become a little arrogant after her first victory against you, Luke."
King Angus casually caught Luna's training sword with his bare hand. Upon closer inspection, Hiro noticed that the king's hand was covered with a layer of blue silicate, a defensive skill provided by Malus. Like Jonathan, many symbiotes could envelop their hosts with their tentacles, granting them unique abilities or enhancing their defenses.
"What the heck? That's total bull! Just how overpowered are these symbiote users?" Hiro muttered to himself inside Luna's womb.
Luna was by no means weak. She was level 31 with inflated stats, even before Hiro's enhanced growth. Moreover, as a beastkin, she had unique abilities like Hypersense and Cat reflexes to improve her dexterity. Yet, all of that meant nothing against King Angus, A real symbiote user.
"Hmph! Well, at least you used Malus's skill this time." Luna stomped her foot, realizing she still wasn't a match for her father.
"You've certainly improved. But you're not quite there yet," King Angus said with a smile. "Now, let's go to the hall. You are a princess. At the very least, I want you to understand the state of our country. War is looming. You too, Luke."
"Huh?" Luna blinked at her father. Luke was equally flabbergasted. "We're going to war?"
King Angus led them into the meeting hall. Luna and Luke followed, taking their seats as other ministers, including Seraphine, were already present.
"The movements of Latvin and Vertia have been suspicious," the king began. "Vertia suffered a decisive defeat against Latvin, and their current king was forced to sign a non-aggression pact."
"Huh? Latvin agreed?" Luke was surprised.
Vertia, like Litmus, was a nation that welcomed other races, while Latvin followed a strict human supremacy ideology. It wasn't shocking that Latvin had won the war, but what was surprising was that they hadn't occupied Vertia. Instead, they had signed a treaty.
"Yes… They didn't finish them off. We don't know why," King Angus admitted. "The optimistic faction here believes they want to fix their earlier mistakes, diverting soldiers to clear out the dungeons plaguing their land. However, this faction—led by Seraphine—believes we must remain wary. They might be planning an attack on our nation."
"So, what are we going to do?"
"I will send you to Mutual. There, I hope you can negotiate a defensive alliance and, if possible, convince a symbiote user or two to come here."
"Eh? Is that safe? What if Luna gets kidnapped?"
"Hm… They shouldn't be that ambitious. The other option is to send your younger brother, Isaac. But he's a bit… too ambitious." King Angus frowned.
Stealing symbiotes was a crime, as was kidnapping. However, Mutual frequently offered incentives to symbiote users, encouraging them to migrate to their land. Isaac was known for his ambitions. If they dangled the prospect of becoming a king in front of him, there was a real chance he'd take the bait.
Of course, that was a lie. No migrant would ever become king. Their children, born within Mutual, could eventually rise to nobility, but an outsider never would. Unlike Latvin, Mutual followed the principle of jus soli rather than jus sanguinis.
"Will you go?" King Angus asked again.
"Yes! Please entrust it to me!" Luna said, puffing out her nonexistent chest. Hiro frowned.
"Alright. That will be our political move going forward. Aside from the Duke of Daneswald and the Duchess of Senestry, the rest of you may leave."
Luna was about to follow the others when King Angus stopped her.
"Ah, not you, Luna. Sit here."
"Alright. First, Duke Daneswald. I heard we've discovered another source of iron?"
"Yes. Marissa, my daughter, reported that Hiro could extract iron from this type of soil." Duke Daneswald placed a box containing slightly reddish soil on the table.
"Hm… Where was this found?"
"In a new dungeon that spawned a day ago."
"It looks like ordinary soil from your duchy, doesn't it? Malus, is there anything special about it?"
"Apart from a trace of mana, I didn't find anything unusual about this soil."
"Luna, can you turn this soil into iron?"
Luna looked at Hiro. A pink tentacle emerged from her body and consumed the soil inside the box. Moments later, Hiro spit out an iron ore, leaving the box empty.
"Well, we just found ourselves a goldmine. With this, we no longer need to rely on imports for our iron production. I swear I've seen this type of soil during one of my dungeon raids." King Angus smiled, though there was a hint of regret in his expression—regret for not mining this soil when he had the chance. "Can Hiro convert ordinary soil into iron? Or does it have to come from dungeons?"
"Yes, Hiro can convert it," Duke Daneswald confirmed. "However, it has to be this specific type of soil. Here's a sample of ordinary soil found near the river." He placed another box before Hiro. "We had to dig quite deep, about 20 to 30 meters, to find the right kind of soil."
Hiro consumed the soil and spat out another iron ore.
"Good work. This was a tremendous boon to our kingdom. With this, we no longer need to import iron ores and could even begin exporting them. We must begin harvesting this soil immediately. Send samples throughout the kingdom. With war looming on the horizon, we need as much iron as we can get," King Angus then turned to Duchess Senestry. "So, what do you need, Duchess?"
"I heard Marissa has appointed a maid who is also a symbiote user. King Angus, when a symbiote gives birth to a new symbiote, their offspring must be offered to the kingdom so the most suitable host can be chosen. I believe Marissa has violated this rule," Duchess Senestry accused. "Moreover, this new host is a monster! How could you allow her to do such a thing to a symbiote?"
"I see. Duke Daneswald, is this true?" King Angus's frown deepened. This was a serious accusation. If it were true, then the symbiote user currently residing in Quantora Village could be taken and assigned elsewhere.
"Erm… it's true that Marissa has appointed a maid recently," Duke Daneswald admitted. "But she didn't coerce Hiro into inhabiting her. In fact, Hiro was the one who chose her. He enveloped her in a cocoon for several days."
"Despite that, the choice to become a symbiote host must not be limited to Daneswald residents. If a new symbiote is born, every noble must have a fair chance to be chosen by the newborn symbiote." Duchess commented. Duke Daneswald wiped his brow, perspiring under the weight of the accusation. However, Luna quickly chimed in.
"In that case, why not visit Marissa's village? That's where I got Hiro too. If he likes a candidate, I believe he will make her his host."
"Symbiotes can take years to produce offspring. Are you suggesting I send my daughters there for years? Why not simply present the offspring in the capital?"
"Hiro is a special case," Malus interjected. "He can't talk, and therefore, he can't formally announce when he proliferates."
"That complicates things. We're breaching a law here." King Angus muttered, his brows furrowing. Malus nodded.
"Every symbiote without a host should be presented in the capital so that every noble citizen has a fair opportunity to be chosen as a host," the Duchess reaffirmed.
"However, the symbiote itself doesn't seem to trust us. Hiro didn't present his offspring to us. The law also states that symbiotes have rights and must be respected." King Angus gestured toward Hiro, who shook his tentacle in clear refusal. "Moreover, since Luna also had Hiro's lineage, it seemed like there was a doubt that Daneswald intended to fully monopolize Hiro's lineage."
Seeing her argument fall apart, the Duchess could only look down in frustration.
"Well, Hiro is a migrant. There are reasons he doesn't trust this country yet. In time, I believe he will open up to us more." King Angus leaned back in his chair. "Alright. The meeting is dismissed. For now, any candidate who wishes to host Hiro's lineage should go to Quantora Village. Marissa must agree to accommodate them. Only when Hiro explicitly rejects them will she be allowed to turn them away. Will that be acceptable to you, Duke Daneswald?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. It was never our intention to monopolize Hiro's lineage." Duke Daneswald bowed respectfully.
"I will send my daughter to Quantora village now for a year." Duchess Senestry sighed. The meeting then came to a close.